Sunday, 13 May 2018

The Stern FactsGo to the profile of Grant SternGrant SternMiami based columnist and radio broadcaster, and professional mortgage broker.Apr 3EXCLUSIVE: Newly Unsealed Court Docs Reveal Trump Family Involved in Bank Fraud With Russian Mobster

Federal authorities already have information tying Donald Trump and his adult children Don Jr., Eric and Ivanka to a major financial crime which helped build the Trump SoHo tower in lower Manhattan with the Bayrock Company.

Former Bayrock Company owner Felix Sater is a Soviet-born convicted financial felon, whose criminal history lies at the heart of the potentially explosive criminal liability hanging over the Trump Organization’s head and heirs.

Newly unsealed court records from the former Trump senior advisor Felix Sater’s illegally hidden prosecution reveal details of his 1998 plea deal and 2004 pre-sentencing report, providing a factual basis for which federal authorities could bring bank fraud and racketeering criminal charges against him and the Trump family.

Sater’s Bayrock Company licensed the Trump name to build Trump SoHo, as well as failed projects in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Phoenix, Arizona.

The Trump family’s role in Sater’s fraud racket involved them knowingly concealing the Russian mob-connected businessman’s financial felony past from banks to borrow $550 million and obtain $200 million of investor equity to build the Trump SoHo tower.

In 2012, Manhattan’s DA investigated the Trump family’s statements in connection with selling the Trump SoHo but declined to prosecute under murky circumstances.

The unsealed records along with Sater’s recent media remarks also indicate that Donald Trump committed perjury to a Florida court by covering up the extent of his involvement with his former “senior advisor” during a 2013 video deposition.

A federal judge in the New York-based 2nd Circuit Appeals Court just redacted and unsealed new information about Sater’s agreement with federal prosecutors to become a cooperating witness for the FBI against the mafia, as I exclusively reported in February 2018.A federal court just unsealed Trump's 20-year-old dirty secrets

A federal appeals court just issued a ruling ( embedded below) that will unseal records dating back 20-years about…washingtonpress.com

Lawyer Robert S. Wolf responded to that February 10th story by sending a threat email to this author.

He is the counsel of record for Felix Sater in the Bayrock lawsuits, which court records show is a role he has held for at least the past 24 years. Wolf told me: (complete email chain below, with reply)

“The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Judge Pamela Chen’s earlier decision,” and “continued to keep everything sealed that the government and Mr. Sater requested to remain sealed including his Pre-Sentence Report.”

However, a careful examination of the unsealed records shows that the judge’s redactions actually serve to confirm Donald Trump’s involvement with Sater in a criminal racket.

When asked for further comment for this story, Robert Wolf told me from his cellphone ten days later, “I have nothing further to tell you based on your response.” Reached by phone twice more while his client was busy on a media blitz, he asked to be called back or muttered that he was busy, declining further comment.

Judge Chen’s vain attempt to partially redact details of Felix Sater’s pre-sentencing report and Wolf’s statement serve, ironically, to confirm the authenticity of the information from Sater’s 2004 pre-sentencing report that was included in a legal brief filed with the Supreme Court in 2012.

Read the newly unsealed, redacted brief here and the unredacted brief from the National Archives. The story continues below…This is a comparative analysis of two above linked legal filings available from the federal court’s PACER system. Legal briefs filed with the Supreme Court in 2012 contained the information from Sater’s PSR, which SCOTUS itself made public, and which was, ironically, also publicly cross-docketed on an earlier “PKC” docket (Judge Pamela K. Chen), but which the Second Circuit judges still wish to hide from the public.

The records and Sater’s recent media remarks also indicate that Donald Trump committed perjury to a Florida court by covering up the extent of his involvement with his former “senior advisor” during a 2013 video deposition.

Leaked emails emerged documenting a 2008 meeting between the entire Trump family (Don, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric) and Bayrock, where they discussed the plea deal and ultimately hid Felix Sater’s continued ownership in Trump SoHo before refinancing in 2010. Lenders foreclosed on the remaining partners in 2014.

A New York state or federal prosecutor could use the confirmed facts above and the leaked emails to build a case for RICO bank fraud by concealment against the Trump family, Sater and his colleagues in the Bayrock Company.

The statute of limitations for federal RICO bank fraud charges is ten years, and Bayrock refinanced its last mortgage in 2010.

The above image may also partially explain why Felix Sater suddenly settled the long-running civil racketeering and fraud lawsuit just last month, since it makes clear that he was skimming funds from Bayrock, and even the federal government knew about it.

For example, in just one of the settled complaint’s 2007 allegations alone (page 14), Sater and his cohort at Bayrock were alleged to have kept a $50 million investment just to pad their own bank accounts.

President Trump’s nearly 20-year relationship with this Russian mob-connected business associate Felix Sater ultimately blossomed into a business partnership with family and the Bayrock company to build the Trump SoHo Hotel in lower Manhattan, as seen on NBC’s “The Apprentice.”

Jody Kriss, a Bayrock whistleblower, filed a civil racketeering suit against Sater and Bayrock for (amongst other things) hiding the Russian-American’s 1998 felony plea deal, which is a material fact that must be disclosed to lenders once known.

Just because a criminal case is sealed like Sater’s, and sentencing is delayed or incomplete, a cooperating witness isn’t accorded a free pass under the law to keep breaking new laws or engage in new crimes beyond that which he might have witnessed. Those acts are actually grounds for canceling a cooperation agreement.

But Felix Sater did so anyhow, and Donald Trump and his family found out and hid his felony financial crimes conviction anyhow while maintaining an 18% interest in the Bayrock project that became the Trump SoHo condominium hotel.

Later in 2013, President Trump gave a sworn statement to attorney Jared Beck of Beck & Lee during Florida court deposition from Trump Tower, saying that he didn’t often speak with, and he “would not recognize” the Russian-American businessman with mob ties if they were in the same room.

The Trump Organization retained a multimillion-dollar management deal at Trump SoHo — even though only 15.8% of the hotel-condo units were sold by 2010 and the other partners went belly up — until late last year when they were bought out by new owners, who very publicly removed the Trump name from the lower Manhattan high-rise.Workers remove the Trump SoHo brand from the lower Manhattan hotel developed by Bayrock with the Trump Organization.

Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance Jr. was investigating the Trump SoHo for violations of New York’s “blue sky” law — the Martin Act — until a 2012 meeting with Trump’s attorney Marc Kasowitz strangely led to the case being dropped.

The Martin Act is a state law that regulates securities, condominiums and co-op transactions, making it a prosecutable civil or criminal offense for a developer to make materially false statements.

One of the reasons why Trump SoHo’s units are (still) so deeply unpopular with buyers, is that the family negotiated onerous occupancy restrictions to no more than 120 days a year to obtain the hotel’s permit without violating residency requirements in one of Manhattan’s few industrially zoned districts. The building’s neighbors were not happy about the compromise.

That’s probably why two of the Trump children — Don Jr. and Ivanka — decided to blatantly lie about the percentage of SoHo units sold.

The family held a press conference for international reporters in Trump Tower in June 2008 — just over 90 days after the Trump Panama Hotel’s financiers at Bear Stearns went bankrupt — where Ivanka lied, claiming that Trump SoHo was nearly 60 percent sold.

Later, Don Jr. told The Real Deal the following spring that 55% of the units were sold.

The percentage of units sold is materially important information for a buyer since a condo developer in New York must sell at least 15% of the units to begin closings.

As of late last year, only 33% of the Trump SoHo’s 391 units have sold to end buyers.

And the now-former Trump SoHo’s neighbors are still upset, even though the building has paid nearly $500,000 in occupancy related fines.

Donald Trump personally obtained millions of dollars in management fees and naming rights from the failed Trump SoHo project for his family real estate company.

The Trump Organization obtained those millions of dollars by staying loyal to a twice-convicted financial felon, lying about sales information to attract buyers, and defrauding lenders for unspeakably large sums of money, which harmed everyone else who invested into the Trump SoHo property.

Virtually everyone else lost their shirt in Trump SoHo.

Except Felix Sater.

And the Trump Organization.

But Sater and the Trump family could be charged with bank fraud by concealment by state or local prosecutors in connection with the Trump SoHo loans sometime before the November 2020.

Felix Sater’s said he worked for free, but really earned millions under the protection of the FBI.thesternfacts.com

Felix Sater’s legal counsel Robert S. Wolf sent this threat email in the middle of President’s Day weekend, the evening of Saturday, February 17th, 2018:

The author’s response:

PoliticsDonald TrumpTrump SohoTrump RussiaFelix Sater

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By clapping more or less, you can signal to us which stories really stand out.Go to the profile of Grant SternGrant Stern

Miami based columnist and radio broadcaster, and professional mortgage broker.The Stern FactsThe Stern Facts

Investigative news journalism and fact based political reports. This is our only AD: Please support our work here: https://www.patreon.com/grantsternMore from The Stern FactsTrump Russia Dossier Decoded: Yes, There Really Was A Massive Oil Deal (UPDATED)Go to the profile of Grant SternGrant SternMore from The Stern FactsTrump’s convicted mobster advisor defrauded journalists in recent media blitzGo to the profile of Grant SternGrant SternMore from The Stern FactsTrump’s Mafia-linked Advisor Felix Sater Scammed Millions and Got Away With The CrimeGo to the profile of Grant SternGrant SternResponsesApplause from Grant Stern (author)Go to the profile of James VandenblinkJames VandenblinkApr 15

Would you buy a used car from these folks?Conversation between Joseph Stans and Grant Stern.Go to the profile of Joseph StansJoseph StansApr 15

I hope we we’re not supposed to be shocked by trumps involvement with nefarious and down right illegal chicanery. In fact, if the object was to shock and and inspire incredulity, it would be better to announce Trump and his clan were involved in a business deal that had no illegal elements.Go to the profile of Grant SternGrant SternApr 15

Hahaha!Conversation with Grant Stern.Go to the profile of Ron CombsRon CombsApr 16

If the records had previously been released, why use the just released records for the article? If they were not, and Mr. Wolf is incorrect, take it up with him, and let’s get the record straight..Go to the profile of Grant SternGrant SternApr 16

The judge’s redactions in the newly released records confirmed the authenticity of the previously released, unredacted copies.

We knew before that the lawyers CLAIMED certain things as facts.

Judge Chen tried to redact those arguments because they contained information from the pre-sentencing…Go to the profile of Ron CombsRon CombsApr 16

I gather that the newly released records are not the same as the previously released records? It sounded to me that they were the same records.Go to the profile of Grant SternGrant SternApr 16

Same records.

Set 1: makes claims about PSR

Set 2: censors claims about PSR per judge’s instructions to redact all facts found in PSR.

Me: The censored stuff is all from the PSR, so the stuff in the visible copy is confirmed as authentic: it is what the government wrote in…